The modern communications era has brought about a tremendous expansion of wireline and wireless networks. Computer networks, television networks, and telephony networks are experiencing an unprecedented technological expansion, fueled by consumer demand. Wireless and mobile networking technologies have addressed related consumer demands, while providing more flexibility and immediacy of information transfer.
Due at least in part to the expansion of wireless networking technologies, some cellular networks have experienced congestion, lack of capacity, low throughput and/or bandwidth, difficulties controlling data costs, and inconvenience to the user. In addition to cellular networks, many user devices may be configured to access local area networks for data access. Some existing technologies may allow for a cellular network completely handing over a cellular network connection with a user device to a local area network. The handover process can be costly, complicated, and inefficient.
As a result, there is a need in the art for advantageously offloading cellular network traffic to a local area network without completely handing over control of the data to the local area network.